1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a cyclone dust separating apparatus of a vacuum cleaner, which draws in external air and separates dust or dirt from the drawn-in air.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a cyclone dust separating apparatus provided in a vacuum cleaner is an apparatus, which whirls air laden with dirt or dust and separates the dirt or dust therefrom. Such a cyclone dust separating apparatus has been recently widely used because it can be semi-permanently used without any inconvenience of frequently replacing dust bags.
The cyclone dust-separating apparatus usually has a cyclone structure, which includes a cyclone to make drawn-in air into a whirling current and thus to separate dust or dirt from the drawn-in air, an air inflow part to guide the drawn-in air to flow into the cyclone in a tangential direction thereof, and a dust bin to collect and store the separated dust or dirt therein. In the cyclone structure as described above, the dust or dirt is randomly accumulated in the dust bin by the whirling air in the cyclone when it is collected in the dust bin. Thus, the conventional cyclone dust-separating apparatus presents a problem that the dust or dirt is apt to scatter along with the whirling air and to flow backward into the cyclone again and as a result, a dust-separating efficiency is deteriorated.
In addition, since the dust or dirt is loosely accumulated in the dust bin, a time that the dust bin is filled with the dust or dirt is shortened, so that a user should frequently empty the dust or dirt from the dust bin. Moreover a problem may occur, in that when the dust bin is emptied, the dust or dirt loosely accumulated in the dust bin is scattered to contaminate the surroundings.
To address the problems as described above, a vacuum cleaner having a dust compressing apparatus, which compresses dust or dirt collected and stored in a dust bin, is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-606794. The dust compressing apparatus of the vacuum cleaner is provided with a compressing plate to compress dust or dirt in a dust bin, a plunger connected to the compressing plate, a solenoid unit to drive the plunger up and down, and a restoring member to restore the lowered plunger to an original position. Accordingly, if the solenoid unit is operated to move the plunger down, the compressing plate is lowered to compress the dust or dirt in the dust bin. However, the dust compressing apparatus as described above is configured, so that the plunger and the restoring member are disposed below the compressing plate while penetrating through the dust bin. Accordingly, to empty the dust bin, the plunger and the restoring member together with the dust bin should be disassembled. Thus, the above dust compressing apparatus is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to remove the dust or dirt compressed in the dust bin.
Also, another vacuum cleaner having a dust compressing apparatus, which compresses dust or dirt collected and stored in a dust bin, is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-634805. The dust compressing apparatus of the vacuum cleaner is provided with a button slidably installed to a dust tank cover of a dust casing, an elastic member to elastically support the button in a direction projecting from the dust casing, and a compressing plate slidably installed in the dust casing to compress the dust or dirt in the dust casing. Accordingly, if the user pushes down the button, the compressing plate compresses the dust or dirt in the dust casing. However, the dust compressing apparatus as described above is disadvantageous in that to compress the dust or dirt in the dust casing, the user should manually operate the button.